Untitled Sermon

#1 Judah does not care about the does not care about the family blessing but repeats and exceeds all the family mistakes.

Judah made the recurrent patriarchal mistake and had more than one line

Abraham made sure that Jacob had a fitting partner, but Jacob seemed to have neglected that. In turn, Judah seemed to replicate every mistake of his ancestors but adding some more, betrayal and murderer.

Num 26:20 “The descendants of Judah by their clans were: of Shelah, the clan of the Shelanites; of Perez, the clan of the Perezites; of Zerah, the clan of the Zerahites.”

Ruth 4:18 NRSV

Now these are the descendants of Perez: Perez became the father of Hezron,

Applications

Bad news sell better than good news. children are affected more from a parent mistake than from several gestures of care. It takes discipline, and moral skills, and help from above to do something good, but evil things are done out of a distraction.

The importance of linage in the Bible is not the glorification of an ancient clan, but a demonstration that we are all the same, for we are all in need of God to fix our mistakes, we keep seeing good in evil like Eve, and evil in good like Joseph’s brothers. Abimelech, Tamar, Potiphar, even Joseph and the Pharao are outsiders but instruments to God’s promise more than his own people. this is about God HE IS THE ONE FAITHFUL.

#2 Judah does not care about the seed.

He did not Fulfill his duty to Tamar by giving her Shelah, he was again negligent of the preservation of the seed (cf. Abraham finding Rebeca for his father).

Application

Children don’t do what parents say, but what parents do. A life a watching your children making your mistakes and not listening to you is not to be pursued, but sometimes we behave like if that is our goal, because we do that in the name of self-contentment .

I understand that anyone ask God for the blessings he gave to Joseph, who was faithful in the face of temptation, but, just like judah and the others, sometimes we want the benefits of having a relationship with God without having to care about the duties of having a relationship with God.

Judah’s line was chosen to bring the Seed.

Genesis 49:8–10 NRSV

Judah, your brothers shall praise you; your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; your father’s sons shall bow down before you. Judah is a lion’s whelp; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He crouches down, he stretches out like a lion, like a lioness—who dares rouse him up? The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and the obedience of the peoples is his.

Despite of Judah not being the Firstborn. Not a surprise because neither Isaac nor Jacob were. Later on his own younger son Perez would be David’s ancestor (Ruth 4:18–22).

Judah, along with his brothers, could not accept their father’s favoritism to the younger Joseph. He will find that he is receiving the grace he did not earned in the past.

However, God chose Judah to be the symbol of greatness that earlier caused his own despise towards his brother Joseph.

conclusions

This is not the story of humanity saving humanity.

humanity keeps choosing evil, and consequences will continue to come. But God is in control and those who trust Him will prevail.